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Enel Report: Italy Needs to Restart Nuclear Energy Program

Italy should restart nuclear power generation and European nations must improve cooperation on natural-resource policy to best deal with growing energy demand, a report prepared for Enel SpA, Italy's largest power company.

Energy security necessitates a review of its fuel mix including the ``reintroduction of nuclear power in Italy,'' as well as the ``development of renewable energy'' sources such as wind, according to the report prepared for Enel by The European House-Ambrosetti, a business consulting company with headquarters in Milan.

The report was presented today at a conference in Cernobbio, Italy, that was attended by Enel Chief Executive Officer Fulvio Conti, and European Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs.

Italian power prices are some of the most expensive in the 27-member European Union, partly because the country depends on expensive gas to run many of its power plants. Enel is also investing in coal, another fuel the report says must be used to increase Italian energy security. The country did away with nuclear energy in the wake of the 1986 Chernobyl accident.

Here's a couple of other numbers that you ought to keep in mind when talking about Italy's electricity situation.

In 2005, Italy imported 16.2% of its total electricity consumption. Of that, 30% was imported from France, which derives about 85% of its electricity from nuclear energy. Those figures were derived from IEA's Electricity Information 2007.

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